Flexible-connection box.



w. w. LASKER.

FLEXIBLE CONNECTION BOX.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 20. 1911.

1,307,683. Y Patented June :24, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

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W. W. LASKER.

FLEXIBLE CONNECTION BOX.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 20. 1911.

1 ,307,683 Patented June 24, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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M'tn assess UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM W. LASKER, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO POWERS ACCOUNTING MACHINE COMPANY, OI NEW YORK, N. Y.,

A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

FLEXIBLE-CONNECTION BOX.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented June 24 1919 Application filed November 20, 1917. Serial No. 202,956.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it. known that I, WILLIAM W. LASKER, a citizen of the United States, residing in borough of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Flexible-Connection Boxes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to punched card tabulating machines and has for its objects to provide connections between the setting members of the analyzer and the control members of the accounting machine which will permit records to be printed in columns of practically any desired arrangement, sequence or distance apart on the printed page practically without any regard to the arrangement, sequence or distance apart of the columns or zones of perforations on the perforated card.

To this end, I have provided flexible push cables each having an inner wire having detachable connection with the setting pinsof the analyzer and the control or stop pins of the accounting machine. Said wires have their ends frictionally received in tubular analyzer setting pins and tubular control pins on the accounting machine, and are guided to such pins by suitable guide tubes.

It is, of course, understood that any other convenient means and connections may be used which will accomplish the same function; and while herein, I have described minute details of my device, it is obvious that the invention is not limited to these, as the details of construction and combination may be greatly varied without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

In the accompanying drawing showing by wa of example oneof many possible em- 15 iments of the invention.

Figure 1 is a ,side elevation of a card-operated printer tabulator embodying my new invention;

Fig. 2 is an elevation showing the flexible connections connecting the sets of setting pins with sets of stop-pins of the accounting machine;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmental sectional v ew taken approximately on the line 33 of Fig. i;

Fig. 5 is a fragmental horizontal sectional vlew taken on the line 55 of Fig. I;

Fig. 6 is a side face elevation of the lower part of one of the stop pins of the accountlng machine;

7 is an edge view of the same, and

Fig. 8 is a central vertical sectional view of one of the guide tubes for guiding the end of the central wire of the flexible push card. Referring more particularly to the draw- 1ngs,--F1g. 1 shows my invention applied to a perforated-card-operated printer tabulator compr sing a main-frame A, an accountin machine B, and a magazine C, from w lch the ana yzer plates 10. All of the parts just mentioned are similar in construction and operation to the well known printer-tabulator machines, of which an example is shown in the patent of James Powers No. 1,245,503, issued Nov. 6, 1917, and said parts are therefore not shown or described in detail herein.

As is well known, the cards are fed from the magazine between the analyzer plates 10, and a pin box below said plates rises until pins therein finding perforations in the cards, pass upwardly through such perforations and push upwardly setting pins 11 (Fig. 3) which in turn cause upward movement of sto pins 12, as will be explained, thus control ing the position of accumulator segments and type segments of the accountin machine in the well known manner. Heretofore the pins 11 and 12 have been formed of one mechanically continuous rod of which the upper part was usually offset from the lower part so that sets of type segments of the machine could be spacel distances apart so that the columns of figures printed by the accounting machine would be spaced much farther apart than were the corresponding columns or zones of perforav made for connecting any setting pin 11 with any desired stop pin 12: and this arrangement which constitutes the principal feature of the present invention will now be described.

Mounted upon opposite sides of the main frame A are a pair of cheek plates 14 on which are mounted end pieces 15 (Fig. 2) to which are secured the supporting bars 16 provided with transverse s ots 18, (Fi 5) in which are received the reduced en s 19 of cross bars 20, provided with side recesses 21 forming seats in which are received the intermediate reduced portion 22 (Fig. 8) of the upper and lower guide tubes 24. Each of said seats is closed by an adjacent cross-bar 20, thereby holding the guide tube in place.

Said cross-bars 20 are removably held in place by means of a plurality of retaining plates 25 engaging the outer face of sa d supporting bars 16 and (provlded with a 11p 26 engagin the reduce ends of the cross bars and ho ding them in lace.

The setting pins 11 an the stop pins 12 are made tubular in form, and are connected by the flexible push cables 28 comprising an outer casing 29 (F i 4) and inner wires 30 projecting from t e casings at opposite ends and passing through said upper and lower guide tubes 24 and into the bores of the pins 11 and 12 in which said ends are held by friction or by any suitable means. The pins 11 and 12 are slidably held in alinement with the guide tubes 24 by means of sets of inner and outer upper perforated guide plates 31 and 32 and similar sets of lower guide plates 34 and Each guide plate is provided with an angularly bent portion 36 placed adjacent to the outer face of the retaining plate 25. Each angularly bent portion 36 is provided at its edge with a cutaway portion 38 giving access to the screw 39 holding the retaining plate 25 against the supporting bar 16. The guide plates themes-elves are held in place by means of screws 44) passing therethrough and through a cutaway portion 41 in the retaining plate 25. It will therefore be seen that when the screws 40 relating to any set of guide plates and retaining plates are loosened slightly, the retaining plate 25 may be raised Without removing the guide plates. thus permitting the cross bars 20 to be raised from the transverse slots 18, thus permitting the wires 30 and their associated guide tubes to be removed from association with any Set of setting pins 11 or stop pins 12, the stop pins 12 being raised to permit the raising of the guide tubes.

In order to provide means for limiting the downward movement of the stop pins and the settin pins 11, these pins, which are tubular in orm, have a flattened intermediate part 44. which causes the formation of the projecting shoulders 45. which engage upon the upper face of the inner u per guide plate 32 or the lower outer guidi: plate 35. he manipulation and operation of the flexible connections 28 are obvious from the foregoing, and need now be described onlv briefly as follows When it is desired to form a considerable space between printed columns correspondng to ad acent zones of the perforated card. it 18 only necessary to loosen the screws 3 and 40 of the guide plates of the setting pins or stop pins to be adjusted. after which the wires 30 of the corresponding flexible cables may be removed together with the guide tubes 24, the lower ends of the wires 30 belng movable to association with the zone of which the record is to be printed. while the upper ends of the wires 30 are movable to associatlon with the stop pins controlling the type segments which will rint column of iiglures on the desired part 0 the sheet on whic the figures are to be printed.

The flexible cables printed in the last lt wlll be possible to reverse the order or rearrange in an manner desired the columns of records corresponding to the aones of perforations. As will be obvious, it is not necessary that the flexible connections transferred in sets of several columns since it is easily possible to print single columns, spaced far apart, from anv corresponding number of columns on the perforated card, whether these columns of perforations be adjacent to each other or not.

I claim as my invention 1 In an apparatus of the character de scribed, the combination of an accountin machine having control members; an an alyzer having a plurality of setting members; and means whereby one of said memrs may be operatively connected with one of several other members.

2. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of an accountin machine having ontrol members; b alyzer having setting members; and means adapted to operatively connect any setting member with any control member.

In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of an accountin machine having control members; an an alyzer having setting members: and flexible means adapted to operatively connect any sett-m' member with any control member.

ii an apparatus of the character described, the combination of an accounting machlne having control membeis; an anpage: and

alyzer having setting members; and flexible connections adapted to operatively connect any setting member to any control member.

5. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of an accounting machine having control members; an analyzer having setting members; and flexible connections operatively connecting the setting members to any desired control members.

6. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of an accounting machine having control members; an analyzer having setting members; and flexible connections detachably connected to certain of said members and operatively connecting the setting members to any desired control members.

7 In an apparatus of the character described, the combination with an accounting machinehaving stop pins; an analyzer having settin pins; and flexible push cables having re atively longitudinally movable inner: and outer parts, the opposite ends of one of said parts having detachable connection with said stop pins and setting pins.

8. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination with an accounting machine having stop pins; an analyzer having setting pins; and flexible push cables having relatively longitudinally movable inner and outer parts, the opposite ends of one of said parts having frictional connection with said stop pins and setting pins.

9. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of an accounting machine; an analyzer; upper and lower guide tubes and guide plates; stop pins slid- I able in the upper guide plates and cooperat ing with the accounting machine; setting pins cooperating with the analyzer and slidable in the lower guide plates; and'flexible push cables of which opposite ends of one member pass through said upper and .lower tubes and have detachable connection with said pins respectively.

10. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of an accounting machine; an analyzer; upper and lower guide tubes and guide plates; stop pins slidable in the upper guide plates and cooperating with the accounting machine; setting pins cooperating with the analyzer and slidable in the lower guide plates; and flexible push cables of which opposite ends of one member pass through said upper and lower tubes and have frictional connection with said pins respectively.

11. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of an accounting machine; an analyzer; a plurality of upper and lower cross bars provided with recesses;

upper and lower guide tubes carried in said seats; pairs of upper and lower guide plates;

stop pins coiiperating with the accounting machine and slidable in the upper guide plates setting pins cooperating with the analyzer and slidable in the lower guide plates; flexible push cables having inner members passing through said tubes and having detachable connection with said pins.

12. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of an accounting machine; an analyzer; a pair of upper supporting bars; a pair of. lower supporting bars; cross-bars carried by the sup-porting bars and provided with recesses therein; upper and lower guide tubes in said recesses pairs of upper and lower guide plates carried by the supporting bars and provided with intermediate perforations; stop pins coiiperating with the accounting machine and slidable in the perforations of the upper guide plates; setting pins cooperating with the analyzer and slidable in the perforations of the lower guide plates; and flexible push -cables having outer flexible casings and inner wires the opposite ends of which pass through said upper and lower guide tubes and detachably secured to said setting and stop pins respectively.

13. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of an accounting machine; pairs of upper and lower supporting bars; cross-bars provided with side recesses and having their ends supported on said supporting bars; retaining plates engaging said supporting bars and holding the cross-bars in place; upper and lower guide tubes in said recesses; pairs of upper and lower guide plates having intermediate perforations and bent end portions; screws plates on said supporting bars; stop pins cooperating with the accounting machine and slidablein the perforations of said upper guide plates; an analyzer; setting pins cooperating with the analyzer and slidable in the perforations of the lower guide plates; and flexible push cables having outer flexible casings and inner wires the ends of which pass through said guide tubes and are frictionally received in said setting and stop pins respectively.

14. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a frame; an accounting machine thereon; a pair of upper supporting bars and a pair of lower supporting bars disposed under said machine and provided with transverse slots; crossbars having reduced ends in said slots and recesses in their sides cooperating with the adjacent bar to form. seats; retaining plates disposed against the outer faces of the supporting bars and engaging said reduced ends; upper and lower guide tubes having reduced intermediate parts received in said seats; upper and lower outer and inner guide plates having perforations in middle parts and bentend portion; screws passing through and portions and retaining plates and securing them to the supporting bars; stop-pins slidable in the perforations of the upper plate for cooperating with the accounting machine and provided with tubular lower ends; an analyzer; setting pins slida ble in the perforations of said lower plates for cooperation with the analyzer and provided with tubular upper ends; and flexible push cables having outer flexible casings and inner wires the ends of which respectively pass through said upper and lower guide tubes and are friotionally received in said upper and lower tubular ends respectively.

15. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of an accounting machine having tubular stop pins; an analyzer having tubular setting pins; upper and lower guide plates in which said pins are slidably mounted; and flexible push ca'bles having an inner wire the opposite ends of which are received in said tubular stop pins and setting pins respectively.

16. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of an accounting machine having tubular stop pins; an analyzer having tubular setting pins; upper and lower guide plates in which said pins are. slidably mounted; and flexible push cables having an inner wire the opposite ends of which are received in said tubular stop pins and setting pins respectively; said tuular pins having a flattened inner portion forming shoulders adapted to engage said guide plates to limit the movement of the pins.

WILLIAM LASKER.

Witnesses:

H. M. KILPATRICK, H. D. PENNEI. 

